News & Public Affairs

Kornell becomes first openly gay Council member in St Petersburg listen

11/04/09 Seán Kinane and Caroline Cziesla
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Tags: Steve Kornell, st petersburg city council election candidates, LGBT

St. Petersburg voters elected all four incumbent City Council members yesterday: Leslie Curran, Jim Kennedy, Jeff Danner, and Karl Nurse.

In the only race without an incumbent, Steve Kornell beat Angela Rouson by a margin of 59 to 41 percent. Kornell celebrated his victory at Shackleton’s Folly last night.

Kornell: "I am very exited and very happy. What I said in my speech was that, although some people framed this as a race about making history. I see this as about race for the fu...

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Gay community outraged with Buju Banton performance listen

10/30/09 Arielle Stevenson
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Tags: Buju Banton, gay rights, LGBT

Buju Banton’s song “Boom Bye Bye” was released in 1992 and is considered to be highly offensive to those in the gay community. Banton’s performance at Ybor’s Cuban Club Friday night has caused a massive reaction from the local gay community. Banton has apologized since the song was released.

Carrie West, President of GaYBOR, Ybor’s gay rights group, says that Banton’s music promotes violence towards gays and women. West says an apology isn’t enough and he doesn’t want Banton’s show here....

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Stuart Milk on his LGBT activism and uncle Harvey Milk listen

10/20/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Stuart Milk, Harvey Milk, LGBT, LGBT Film Festival

Last week California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill commemorating the gay rights activist Harvey Milk. It’s the same bill that the governor vetoed last year. In the intervening twelve months, Milk posthumously won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, and a film was released starring Sean Penn as Milk.

Harvey Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, is also an LGBT-rights activist. WMNF spoke with him last Saturday at the Tampa Theatre, where h...

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Iorio names Jane Castor Tampa police chief listen

09/16/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: LGBT, Jane Castor, Tampa Police, Pam Iorio

Jane Castor will become Tampa’s first female and first lesbian chief of police on October 1st. Mayor Pam Iorio made that announcement this morning as well as the retirement of current Chief Steve Hogue.

Castor is the assistant chief of operations and is a 25-year veteran of the TPD. Iorio calls her a “born leader” and says that Castor has “filled every possible role” since joining the department in 1984. Jane Castor says that some things will be different in the department under her leader...

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'Outrage' suggests double life for Gov. Crist listen

07/17/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: LGBT, Charlie Crist, Amendment 2

Last night the WMNF Film Series hosted the Tampa Bay premier of the documentary Outrage. More than 200 people packed into the Tampa Pitcher Show to see the film that its website calls, “a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to.” Outrage prominently features Florida Governor Charlie Crist.

The audience applauded video of former Republican U.S. Representative Jim Kolbe who spoke on the floor of C...

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St Pete Pride Festival hits its stride listen

06/29/09 Carson Frame
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Tags: LGBT, St. Pete Gay Pride Parade

On Saturday, the 2009 St. Pete Gay Pride Parade hit the streets in order to celebrate sexuality, community, and acceptance.

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Activists protest California ruling banning same-sex marriage listen

05/27/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: LGBT, same-sex marriage

Six hours after the California Supreme Court refused to overturn Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriage in the Golden State, approximately 50 people gathered at Joe Chillura Square in downtown Tampa to protest the legal decision.

Activists said the theme of the evening was a call to action.

Karen Doering is a board member with Organizations United Together (OUT). She called the California Supreme Court ruling, "unthinkable."

Doering said it was time for the LGBT community and th...

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New HIV vaccine debuts in Ybor City listen

03/02/09 Concetta DeLuco
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Tags: Health, LGBT, AIDS, HIV, vaccine

Amid the festivities at Southern Exposure, the nation’s first all-gay carnival held in Ybor over the weekend, a press conference was held on Saturday to announce the next steps in the development of a new HIV vaccination.

Referred to as the “GaYbor District,” Ybor currently hosts the nation’s highest gay population. At the Hampton Inn, the Atlanta-based GeoVax Labs Inc. educated some of the city’s residents and weekend visitors about the intended effects and next phase of their HIV vaccin...

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Winter Pride Festival in Tampa canceled this year listen

02/05/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: LGBT, gay pride festival

For the first time in four years, there will not be a Winter Gay Pride event in Tampa later this month.

According to spokesman R. Zeke Fread, the main culprit is the economy. Fread said the festival, created in the aftermath of the Hillsborough County Commission’s 2005 vote banning gay pride events requires anywhere between $20,000 and 25,000 in funding.

Organizers also say that there was extensive money and energy expended this past year fighting Amendment Two, which bans same-sex marr...

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Beckner reopens benefits debate in Hillsborough County listen

01/21/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Health care benefits, LGBT, Hillsborough County

On Thursday, Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner says he’ll bring up the idea of giving health care benefits to the unmarried domestic partners of county employees.

Nadine Smith is executive director of the LGBT advocacy group Equality Florida. On Tuesday afternoon her group sent out a mass e-mail to supporters urging them to call and email county commissioners in support of Beckner’s idea.

But just by calling for a discussion, Beckner has touched off a backlash of sorts. ...

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